This episode explores the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) proposal to change the religion question for the 2026 Census, and the campaign behind the push for more accurate and meaningful data on religion. The episode features an interview with Michael Dove (1:57), the spokesperson for the ‘Census21 – Not Religious? Mark 'No Religion'' campaign. At the 2021 Census, the campaign – which was a joint effort by a number of pro-secular organisations, including the Rationalist Society of Australia – encouraged Australians to mark ‘No religion’ if they were no longer religious. More recently, the campaign has been making submissions to the ABS’ public consultation process for reviewing Census topics and considering changes to questions.
This episode explores the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) proposal to change the religion question for the 2026 Census, and the campaign behind the push for more accurate and meaningful data on religion. The episode features an interview with Michael Dove (1:57), the spokesperson for the Census21 – Not Religious? Mark 'No Religion' campaign. At the 2021 Census, the campaign – which was a joint effort by a number of pro-secular organisations, including the Rationalist Society of Australia – encouraged Australians to mark ‘No religion’ if they were no longer religious. More recently, the campaign has been making submissions to the ABS’ public consultation process for reviewing Census topics and considering changes to questions.
The Census21 – Not Religious? Mark 'No Religion' campaign made its most recent submission to the ABS consultation process in late August. You can read it on the campaign’s website here.
For more information about the Census topic review process, visit the ABS website here.
For more information about the 2021 Census results for religion, visit the ABS website here.
The podcast is hosted by Si Gladman, the Campaigns & Communications Coordinator for the Rationalist Society of Australia.
To support the work of the Rationalist Society of Australia, you can become a member or make a donation on our website.
The theme music of The Secular Agenda podcast is called 'Curiosity', and it's by Shimmer.